


Ring of Fire

by gregthepaladin



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-19
Updated: 2012-04-19
Packaged: 2017-11-03 22:45:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/386821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gregthepaladin/pseuds/gregthepaladin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>GLaDOS sings a song to a sleeping Chell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ring of Fire

Few would ever know why, but the woman of shining porcelain loved to sing.

"Love...is a burning thing."

She whispered into the warmth her lover was generating, quietly sleeping. Her fingers traced the outline of Chell's bare back.

"And it makes...a fiery ring."

Caroline never really went away. GLaDOS saw the woman, trembling, terrified. She could have killed her right then. She still wonders if she should have, sometimes. But she didn't. She extended a hand to her. She asked for Caroline's help. GLaDOS didn't want to keep killing, and fighting, and hurting. She had been tortured for so long, she couldn't help but lash out. She had been in pain since that day. She never wanted to be what they made her into.

"Bound..."

She had to push Chell away. After what she had done, she knew that getting close to someone again would lead to going back. She would have to face what she did. GLaDOS had killed, and she felt justified; they had killed her, after all. But if she let Chell into her life, she would have to recognize everything she had done. She would have to become human again. And nothing terrified her more. 

"By wild desire..."

She needed Chell, though. She needed to stop hurting. She needed to feel human again, to feel happiness, and love, and anything at all. She needed Caroline back.

She remembered Caroline in happier times. How much she loved the earth, and soil, and growth. She would work in her garden from dewy mornings to firefly-lit dusk. She would sing to Cave, knowing that it calmed him. It brought him joy, which brought her joy. GLaDOS only caught fragments of these moments, viewing them as an outsider, but she understood. She wanted what they had. 

When you are a multi-billion dollar artificial intelligence with the capacity to shape your surroundings by thought alone, it's hard to find an equal. It's hard to care about someone. But Chell didn't relent. She couldn't. And GLaDOS realized, she wanted this. She needed this. She needed to feel again.

"I fell in to a..."

She slowly traced a circle on the back of Chell's neck, and kissed her. Goodnight, Chell. I love you.


End file.
